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Many thanks to Peter Jones who has again prepared this week’s devotions. This week our attention is focused on Luke chapter 14, verses 16-35. Please read these verses every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 14:34-35 (NIV)
‘‘Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure heap; it is thrown out.
‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’
I’m told that in certain areas of the world, that if a man tastes salt with another, he is solemnly bound not do any injury to that person. Here is an anecdote that explains this principle:
A public robber in Persia, known by the name of Yacoub, broke open the treasury of Dirhem, the governor of Sistan. Notwithstanding the obscurity of the place, he observed, in walking forward, something that sparkled a little: supposing it to be some precious stones, he put his hand on the place, and taking up something, touched it with his tongue, and found it to be salt. He immediately left the treasury, without taking the smallest article with him! The governor finding in the morning that the treasury had been broken open, and that nothing was carried off, ordered it to be published, that “Whoever the robber was who had broken open the treasury, if he declared himself, he should be freely pardoned, and that he should not only receive no injury, but should be received into the good graces of the governor.”
Confiding in the promise of Dirhem, Yacoub appeared. The governor asked; how it came to pass that, after having broken open the treasury, he took nothing away? Yacoub related the affair as it happened, and added, “I believed that I was to become your friend in eating of your salt, and that the laws of that friendship would not permit me to touch anything that belongs to you.
Salt has many natural properties and I have to confess I cannot eat potatoes and some other food without salt. I have also found its healing and preserving properties. In Matthew 5 Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot”. In a spiritual context, we are to be salt in our lives and in our locality. So to list some of those spiritual properties.
- Flavour; does my attitude indicate the nature of Jesus.
- Healing; Does my relationship with others bring conflict or healing.
- Preservation; we looked yesterday at how looking back can affect our spiritual walk. Do we know how to preserve our Christian faith so that others can see Jesus in us? It is not a short term fix but a long term commitment.
Salt is also used to destroy and if we are salt then it speaks of destroying the sin in our lives. It can also mean to help us conquer our bad habits.
I suffer with mouth ulcers from time to time and I find the most effective cure is to apply salt. It hurts but it works. Sometimes we have to endure the pain of healing but ultimately it will work. Let us Trust Jesus to help us to be salt to a dying generation.
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